Despite what some experts would have us believe, hashtags are alive and well on social media. However, hashtags are far more useful than serving as a means of helping users find relevant content – they can also be used to foster and build communities of loyal fans and brand advocates.

This technique’s greatest strength isn’t just the ease with which this can be implemented, but the fact that the same hashtag can be used across several social media platforms. This allows you to cross-pollinate your messaging throughout various social campaigns, offering users a cohesive experience regardless of where they interact with your brand.

The world’s leading brands know how to use this technique exceptionally well as Margot highlighted in an example focusing on Nike’s #chooseyourwinter and #runfree hashtags in 2014. Nike managed to effortlessly build an online social community of Nike consumers by using these hashtags, both of which proved extraordinarily popular and resulted in widespread social sharing – all with minimal expenditure on Nike’s part.